The Ebbs and Flows of te reo Māori Use in New Zealand English

Main Article Content

Spencer Lilley
Mark Turin

Abstract

In this article, we associate the use of te reo Māori in vernacular New Zealand English with political alignments and transformations in Aotearoa New Zealand. The volume and direction of this lexical borrowing – from Māori into vernacular New Zealand English – is as unique as it is counterintuitive: lexical borrowing most typically involves words from dominant, majority languages being loaned into and shared with subdominant, Indigenous languages. Our contribution explores the persistent use of te reo Māori in New Zealand English. We start by offering a chronology of te reo Māori as an endangered and official language, and then review the existing scholarship on how and when te reo Māori loanwords have been incorporated into New Zealand English. We conclude by assessing the changing political space for te reo Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand, with a particular focus on new directions in language policy associated with the coalition government elected in 2023.

Article Details

Section

Articles (refereed)

Author Biographies

Spencer Lilley, Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand

Spencer Lilley is an Associate Professor in the Information Studies programmes in the School of Information Management. He has genealogical affiliations to Māori (Te Atiawa, Muaūpoko and Ngāpuhi), Samoa and the United Kingdom. His research on Māori and Indigenous engagement with libraries and other cultural heritage institutions is internationally recognised. Spencer is a recipient of three Royal Society of New Zealand Marsden Awards (2 as a Primary Investigator, and 1 as an Associate Investigator). His research is currently focused on decolonisation and Indigenisation of galleries, libraries, archives, museums and records (GLAMR) institutions.

Mark Turin, The University of British Columbia, Canada and Tokyo College, the University of Tokyo, Japan

Mark Turin (PhD, Linguistics, Leiden University, 2006) is an anthropologist, linguist and occasional radio presenter, and an Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia. He is cross-appointed between the Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies and the Department of Anthropology.